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'. 2 Sheets-Sheet I. A. M. SAWYER.

I Peat Machine.

Patented Oct. 1, 1867.

In u e-11712 r 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. M. SAWYER.

Peat Machine.

Patented Oct. 1, 1867.

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TMPRGVED MACHINE FOR PREPARING PHAT FOR FUEL.

Tithe Strtrhnlnrriunh to in flgtse trims 33mm amt mating part atrigs-tame.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, ADDISON M. Snwrsn, of Athol, in the county ofWorcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Machines for Preparing Peat for Fuel; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a partof this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of my machine.

' Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through centre of machine.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section through centre of mould-wheel.

Figure 5 isa side elevation of the fixed or stationary cams foroperating the pistons or plungers.

Figure 6 is an end view of the same, and

Figures 7 ands are views of the plunger.

The same letters refer to the same parts in all drawings.

In the manufacture of peat, as usually practised, the peat as it comesfrom the bog is by some suitable mechanism disintegrated or ground upinto a homogeneous semi-fluid mass, caused by the large amount of watercontained in it, which is afterwards formed into blocks or pieces ofconvenient size and shape, and dried for use.

My. invention relates, in the first place, to the mechanism for pressingthe water from the peat after it has 2mmuitfl ly$li5integrntcd, andconsists in combining with the grinding or disintegrating apparatus ahorizontal endless belt or apron, of canvas or other pervious material,so arranged beneath thesaid grinding apparatus that the ground peat willfall directly upon said apron and a pair'of squeezing-rollers, aroundthe lowermost one of which the apron passes, by which means the wet massis at first somewhat drained, by the water passing off through theapron, and is then squeezed by passing through the prcssurerollers, sothat a large part of the water is removed from it, and is discharged,after passing the rollers, in a damp condition. It also consists in theemployment, in combination with the endless belt or apron andsqueezing-rollers, of a scraper, working close to the surface of theapron, to remove the peat that may adhere to its surface after thecompression.

My invention relates, in the second place, to the manner of constructingthe revolving mould-wheel and the parts that work in connection with it,for compressing. the prepared peat or other similar material intobrielgsor blocks of convenient size for use, and 'consists in theemployment, incombination with the revolving series of moulds, of a series ofscrapers, placed within the hopper that receives the prepared peat,above said wheel,

- nnd close to the enterior of the moulds, so as to repeatedly scrapeoil the excess of material, and thereby insure the filling of the mouldsuniformly with the same quantity of material; and secondly, in mountingthe cams that work the pistons in the moulds in adjustable bearings, soarranged, in combination with the-series of revolving moulds, that thecompressing capacity of themoulds may be varied, as will be more fullydescribed I construct my machine in the following manner: I Ais thehopper or receptacle into which the peat is placed as it is taken fromthe bog.

, Bis the grinding or disintegrating cylinder, armed with pro ectingfingers or teeth a a, and revolving within a fixed casing, E,alsoprovided with like fingers or teeth, the cylinder being so'arrangedwith relation to the casing that the moving fingers of the cylindershall pass between the fingers on the shell, and serve to completelydisintegrate the matter of which the peat is compose G and C arepressure-rolls for expressing the water from the peat after it haspassed through the grinding apparatus. I i I D is an endless'belt orapron, made of canvas or other pervious .material, and placed in ahorizontal'position'directly under the cylinder B, passing around therolls C and E. The bearings'of the roll E are provided withadjusting-screws b b, by means of which the apron may always be kepttent. The pent, as it leaves the grinding-cylinder, falls directly uponthe apron D, in its semi-fluid state, where it is partially drained, bythe waterpassing through the apron, and is then carried by the forwardmovement of the apron between the pressure-rolls G and C, where anotherportion of thewater is expressed from the peat and allowed to flow ofl.

F is a scraper attached to the frame of the grinding apparatus in such amanner that its edge comes close to the surface of the apron, and servesto remove the peat that may adhere to it after passing the pressurcrolls. Said rolls are driven from the grinding-cylinder by means of thebelt G and pulleys H and I.

J is another endless belt or apron, made of canvas or other suitablematerial, and provided with buckets or carriersv K K, for cdnveyin'g thepeat from the grinding apparatus to the hopper of the mouldingapparatus. Said apron passes around the rolls L and M, and is set inmotion by means of the bolt Nand pulleys O an'd l. The buckets K Kdischarge the peat, as theypass over the roll M, into the hopper Q,which is attached to the frame of the moulding apparatus, and directlyover the mould wheel R.\ In the hopper Q is placed a scrics of scrapers,h 71, parallel to the-axis of the mould-wheel, and with their loweredges close to thefcxterior surface of the same, the purpose of which isto scrape ofi' any excess o i' material from the moulds as they passunder them, and insure thefilling of the moulds uniformly with the samequantity of material. r

The mould-wheel R-isamade up of a series of annular rings, in the sideof each of which is formed a series of radial rectangular-shapedgrooves, which, when the rings are placed in position, form the moulds cc.

To complete the mould-whech'a head, 5, in the form of a. spurgear-wheel, is added at each end, and the whole firmly bolted togetherby the bolts d d. The hub of the spur-gear S, which formsthe head of themouldwheel, has a hole boredin its centre, and concentric with theperiphery of the mould-wheel, by means of which the mould-wheel ismounted on the hubs T that project inwardly from the frames U, and onwhich it revolves. The mould-wheel is made to revolve by means of thespur-gears S and the pinions V on the driving-shaft W. About one-third,more or less, of the external surface of the mould-wheel is enclosed inastationary segmental shell or easing, Z, boltedfirmly to'ithe frames U,as shown, and polished on its inner surface, so as to accurately lit theouter surface of the mould-wheel It, and serves as a platen, againstwhich the mass of peat contained in each mould issuccessivelycompressedby the action ofthe cams X upon the pistons or, as the mould-wheelrevolves.

"The centre hubs T of theframc U haveslots Y made through them, andprovided with set-scrcws on their upper and lower sides, into which thesquare ends of the cam-bar d are fitted, and by which the cams X areheld in a fiicedposition. Each mould is provided with a plunger orpiston, e, on the iuner'end of which are mounted the friction-trucks ffand y, as seen in detail in figs. 7 and 8. .These plungers are moved outand in, as required, by means of the fixed cams X mounted on thecross-bur .T, the square ends of whit-hare fitted in the slots Y, andpassing through thecentre of the mould-wheel on the line of its axis.The cams X are 'constructed substantially as shown in detail in figs. 5and 6, and placed in such a positio n that as the mould-wheel revolvesthe pistons of those moulds which are uppermost shall be in their lowestpositionpsc as to present the greatest capacity of mould to receive thepeat as it comes from the grinding apparatus. Eachpiston remains in suchlowest position until the mouth of its mould is covered by being carriedunder the casing Z, when the cam X begins to act upon it to force ittoward the periphery of the mould-wheel, and thus compress the materialcontained within its mould against the shell or casing Z. This inotioniscontinued until the mould has passed the lower edge of the casing Z,when the peat, having been suiiiciently compressed, is fore-"l out ofthe mould and deposited upon a moving apron under the mould-wheel (notshown) bythe action of tl.-= inolinedplane on the cam X, shown at h,fig. 6. Those portions of the cams X which act upon the pistons whilethey are moving from the under to the upper side of thc'mould-wheel a remade in the form of a T-shapcd groovc, thc lips Not the groove servingto draw the pistons inward by their action upon the friction-truck's fso that the moulds may be in a condition to beagain charged with peatwhen they arrive at the hopper Q. Those portions of the cams X whichform the lips i z' extend under the cams, as shown in fig. 6, to preventthe plungcrs frombeing thrown too far out of the mould when the block ofpeat is discharged, and insure thc'pistons being drawn inward at theproper time. The cams X may be adjusted at will, by means of theset-screws an, acting upon the. cambar J so as to place the came in aposition more'or less eccentric to the mould-\vhccL-and thereby increaseor diminish the compressing capacity of the mould, as may be required,by increasing or diminishing the capacityv of the mould when it isfilled, and diminishing or increasing to the same extent thc'spncc intowhich'thc enclosed mass is to be compressed.

Themodc of operation of the several parts of the mechanism is beli vedto be suilioicntly set forth by the description. I I

What I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by LottersIatent, is-

1. The combination of an apparatus for grinding or disintegrating-thepeat, the endless apron b, and'thc squeezing-rollers C and C, arrangedsubstantially as described.

2. The combination of theendlcss apron I the squeezing-rollers C and C,and the scraper F, substantially as described.

3. The scrapers 7:. IL within the hopper R, in combination with theseries of moulds, substantially as described.

4. Arranging the cams that work the pistons in and out, so as to beadjustable, as described, so that the movement of the pistons in thedirection of the diameter of the mould-wheel may be varied, and therebythe compressing capacity of the moulds be increased or diminished,substantially as described.

Executed at Boston this sixth day of-July, 1867. i p

I A. M. SAWYER.

Witnesses:

Ones. A. Jonnsu, W Hmmnn

